Grammy-nominated soul and funk singer Sharon Jones, beloved for her work with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, passed away on Friday (Nov. 18) after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 60.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that Sharon Jones has passed away after a heroic battle against pancreatic cancer,” her rep said in a statement. “She was surrounded by her loved ones, including the Dap-Kings.”
Jones earned her first Grammy nomination in 2013 when Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ album Give the People What They Want was up for Best R&B Album. That same year, she was diagnosed with cancer. “I just started crying,” Jones told Rolling Stone in July. “All kinds of thoughts went through my head because I figured that I was going to die.”
Instead, Jones fought cancer for years, vowing not to let it control her life. “I have cancer; cancer don’t have me,” she explained. “I’m gonna keep on going. I’m gonna take this medicine, and it’ll be alright.”
Jones’ work has impacted art by others, as well. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ “The Dap Dip,” for instance, was sampled on Rhymefest and Kanye West’s “Brand New” and on an Earl Sweatshirt song of the same name.
